Fallacy
by A Rose for me-A Rose for you
Summary: The Mirage Tower has perplexed explorers troughout History. It's mysteries were left untapped; it's secrets untouched. But now history is about to change. Things take a dark turn and every fact they had built their beliefs upon is about to be shattered CS
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys. I haven't updated in a while, I know. But with exams and things . . . well, I was busy. But hopefully this will make things worth the wait!**

**Actually, today is my 16th birthday. So this is like a reverse birthday present. Apparently a lot of people think that I am younger than I am. This doesn't bode well for my friends; I'm the _mature_ one in our group!**

**I don't own Pokémon**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The roads seemed to waver in the heat, the harsh sun beat down on it. So unforgiving was its grasp. The intense temperature dominated the region, challenging all to try to withstand it. One person took that challenge. She was not brave, nor was she courageous.

"So… do I take a left?" she asked herself.

She was lost. May had gotten off at the stop she had thought was hers, and had ended up in a strange, desolate place she has never seen before. Why would anyone build a train stop in the middle of an abyss? She had been sure that the fifth stop from the dock was Petalburg.

"This is hopeless! I need to get out of this heat before I bake to death," she groaned.

She glanced around for a tree or something; anything which could offer her refuge for a few short moments. In the distance, she spotted a sign. She walked slowly over to it, in an attempt to conserve energy. When she reached the sign, she gasped and dropped her rucksack. She had been right; Petalburg was the fifth stop. The once luscious and bountiful meadows that lay on the outskirts of Petalburg were now a murky brown. All the life that had thrived there was gone, shrivelled away like the flowers that had once bloomed. She looked up at the sun and the blistering heat increased. It was a warning: things were only going to get worse.

* * *

"It's too hot to work," Max groaned, fanning himself.

"Stop complaining Max. At least Professor Rowan trusts us to do this for him," the slightly older girl said. She tied her russet hair back and rolled up the sleeves of her purple-hooded top.

Max rolled his eyes. "We're in the middle of a heat wave Aurelia. Take the hoodie off," he said.

Aurelia shook her head and continued writing down her calculations.

Max came up behind her. "Take it off," he repeated.

"No," she said.

"I'm getting hot just looking at you! Take it off!"

"I'm getting nauseous looking at you! No one wants to see your pale flab! The sun will do you some good."

"Take it off."

"Make me."

"I will!"

Max toppled her off the sofa and on to the cream carpet. Aurelia gasped and giggled, trying to push him off. He held her hands above her head.

"Get off of me," she said.

"I'm getting this off you one way or the other!"

Aurelia's face whitened. She gasped and tried to push Max off her.

"Wait! Max, no, stop it! I don't-"

Max rolled his eyes. "I don't care what you want. This is my house and I say you need to take this top off!"

Aurelia tried fidgeting to throw him off, but he only held on to her tighter. He smirked and purposefully slid his hand to the hem of her cornflower blue top. She blushed madly and yelled at him.

"I HAVE NOTHING ON UNDER THIS!"

There was an awkward pause, Max's hand still not moving from its place. He then blushed and mumbled an apology.

"Sorry, I was just joking," he said.

"I know. Now . . . get off."

Suddenly the front door swung open.

"I'm home! Where are you g-?"

May stopped and stared at the spectacle before her. Her brother, her just-turned sixteen-years-old brother, was sprawled on top of a girl with his hand up her top. One thought crossed through all their minds.

'_Shit_.'

* * *

"What were you two doing? No- do I want to know what you two were doing?" May demanded.

"No! I mean yes, but . . . May this is Aurelia. She works with me as Professor Rowan's assistant," Max said.

May glared at Aurelia, contempt evident in her delicate features. "And what were you doing?" she asked.

"Trying to save my dignity . . . it didn't end well," Aurelia answered sheepishly.

"Don't blame her! I was the one trying to get her shirt off! She's always wearing it though! We were just having a bit of fun. . . . But not in that way," he added quickly.

Shockingly, May started to laugh. "You would never try something like that in Dad's house. Besides, I know how bad you are with girls" she said through giggles.

Max glared at his sister as Aurelia laughed and ruffled his hair. May calmed herself and smiled at Aurelia. Aurelia smiled back.

"Aurelia, this is my big sister. She's the one I warned you about," Max said.

May pouted. "And to think I was going to take you out for Dinner!" she said, hitting him playfully.

"Let me guess . . . its spaghetti night at Mario's."

"You know it!"

* * *

Mario's Italian Restaurant was part of a dying breed of shops that provided it's customer with home-made cooking. The family that owned the restaurant would rather go bankrupt than start selling mass-produced processed food.

Luckily for them, as long as the Maple family lived in Petalburg, they'd have a regular stream of customers. Gym leaders were fantastic advertisers.

The trio sat at a booth by the window. They ordered three servings of spaghetti and cola. Max turned to May.

"So May, how was Almia? Did you catch any pokémon? Did you win the Grand Festival? Was it fun?" Max asked.

Aurelia giggled. "He's missed you."

May smiled. "It was great! I saw lots of pokémon, but I didn't want to catch any. I didn't win -- I placed third. It was a lot of fun, though! I made tons of new friends and I got the cutest necklace from this stall in Boyleland! But I missed you guys so much."

May then turned to face Aurelia. "So, you're the famous Aurelia. Max has told me all about you in his letters. You two must be really close."

"I mentioned you once or twice," Max corrected.

"I know her life story at this point! Your name is Aurelia De Luca. You're seventeen and Professor Rowan's assistant. You love reading and specialize in-"

"The food's here, May!" Max said quickly, relief evident in his onyx eyes.

Aurelia laughed and smiled. "Don't hide it, Max: you know we're going to get married eventually. Let's face it: if I don't, you'll end up with some crazy girl with the intelligence of a teapot."

Max shook his head and bit in to a meatball the size of a pokéball.

"What happened to the meadow?" May asked.

Max sighed. He set his fork down and looked at this sister.

"I don't know what you know, but obviously we're in the middle of a heat wave. That, in turn, has caused a drought and various forest fires. Pokémon and people are suffering immensely because of it. That meadow is just one thing that has been affected," he explained.

"It also seems that it's just Hoenn that is being hit with this bizarre heat. Kanto is feeling some of the effects, but they're quite mild. Professor Rowan left us here to conduct research on this phenomenon while he conducts other experiments," Aurelia added.

May nodded and twisted the spaghetti around her fork.

"I hope it's OK that I've been staying in your room, May," said Aurelia. "I thought it would be disrespectful to stop in your parents' room."

"Of course; it's fine. Where are mom and dad?" she asked her brother.

"Mom is visiting grandma and grandpa in Johto. Dad joined Professor Rowan's field team," Max replied.

"Why? What's going on?"

"It's so exciting! Have you heard the legend of the Mirage Tower?" Aurelia asked.

"No."

"Well, they say that every so often a mysterious tower appears in the desert just north of Mauville. It doesn't appear in the same place and it hasn't been seen for years. But recently it appeared! So Professor Rowan assembled a team of Gym Leaders and pokémon Professors. So that's Professor Birch, your dad, Lance, Wallace, Steven . . . really powerful trainers! They're all going in to the Mirage Tower to investigate the mysteries. It's dangerous, because legend has it that many teams have tried to explore the tower, but none have ever returned. But think of all the things we could learn from it!" Aurelia gushed.

" . . . She's as excitable as you said she was," May remarked.

"Hush. That's my future wife you're talking about," Max said, rolling his eyes.

* * *

Back at the Maple residence, May was unpacking some stuff in her parent's room. Aurelia had said she'd stop on the couch, but Max refused to let her.

"You're a guest. Mom would kill us for letting a guest stay on the sofa. She has a reputation has a hospitable hostess to protect you know," Max said.

Aurelia laughed and turned her attention back to the calculations she had abandoned before the shirt incident. Max began making more notes on the temperature variables of the week. May joined them half an hour later in the dining room and laughed.

"All work and no play make Max a dull boy," May sang.

"All play and no work makes Max a fired boy," Max sang bank.

Aurelia looked up at the clock. It was nine already and the sun was beginning to sink. She removed her reading glasses and rubbed her eyes. "She's right though, Max. These glasses are giving me a headache. Let's call it a night on this. We've worked enough. Do you want some ice cream?"

"Max! I can't believe you're letting Aurelia serve you! She's our guest! What would mom say?" May scolded.

"Well, she bought it!" Max defended himself.

"I don't trust him in the kitchen," Aurelia said simply.

She disappeared in to the kitchen. Max began to pack away the books, notes and all the other study material. May skipped away merrily to answer the phone. After a brief, heart-warming conversation with her mother on the telephone, May wandered in to the living room and found Max and Aurelia sitting on the sofa happily shovelling strawberry ice cream in to their mouths. In the spirit of true researchers, they had the news on. May sat beside Max and grabbed her bowl.

"This is Jenna Nova with Channel Five News. Today, Professor Rowan and his field team entered the mysterious Mirage Tower. The professor had this to say . . ."

The shot cut to a pre-recorded interview from earlier that day. The professor stood in explorer gear and he was obviously irritated.

"What do you think you'll find in there?" the interviewer asked.

"If I knew that I wouldn't need such a varied team would I?" he replied.

The two assistants laughed at this; it was typical Professor Rowan.

"Do you believe the rumours that there are rare pokémon in there?"

"It's highly possible. We have no idea what the terrain is like within the tower. But that is not why we are exploring the tower."

"Then, why?"

There was a certain gleeful sparkle in Rowan's eyes.

"We're doing it for the sake of exploring and explaining. We're doing it for the answers we'll be granted and the new questions we'll be left to ponder. We're doing this for Science."

"And there we have it folks. Those were the wise words of a professor with a mission. This has been Jenna Nova with your breaking news. Now back to Chris Nelson with the weather."

"Thank you Jenna! Now obviously we've been feeling the heat, and as you can see--"

They changed the channel, still laughing.

"He uses the same speech every day," Max explained.

May laughed and finished off her ice cream. She stretched up and yawned.

"That's a beautiful necklace, May," Aurelia observed.

The necklace was a sliver pendant in the shape of a bird with a red glass in the middle. It was on a black string.

"Thank you. It's the one I got from Boyleland."

"Almia is famous for the rangers. Did you meet any?" Max asked.

"Of course I did! His name is Keith and he is so cool. He showed me how to do that . . . loopy thing!" May said.

"The capture ring," Max corrected.

"Yeah, that. And I saw this amazing band called the Go Rock Quads. Their music was so . . . deep, like they regretted something."

Aurelia blinked. "That's an interesting interpretation."

"I like music," she replied simply.

"I do too."

"Who do you like?"

"Three Days Grace and bands like that. Who do you like?"

"I like Lady Ga Ga."

"I like my bed. 'Night guys," Max said.

He left the living room and climbed the stairs to his room. Soon, the girls followed him on that climb. May lie down on her parents' bed and sighed softly. As soon as her head hit the plumped cream pillow, her eyelids felt heavy. Gradually they became heavier and heavier until sleep was inevitable.

* * *

_The chants were growing louder. The flame that lit the cold stone room flickered as the procession marched by. A man stood before an Alter, talking in urgent whispers to an idol, his ceremonial robe slipping slowly off his shoulders. The flame flickered again, this time extinguishing, leaving the room dominated with darkness. When the light returned, the priests back was shown. Strange symbols were carved in to his flesh. The priest knelt before the idol and placed a bloodied knife before it. The doors swung open, and the procession entered, carrying a screaming child. The child was placed before the idol, tears streaming down his tan face. The priest caressed the child's cheek and reached for the knife. The flame flickered, again more violently. The priest raised the knife high. The child let out one last anguished cry. The priest brought the knife down-_

The sunlight streamed through the window. The occupant of the room rook deep shaky breaths and sighed. The sticky sweat on their bed was either from the immense heat last night, or the nightmare they had just experienced. Either way, they needed to get out.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews would be nice.**


	2. Chapter 2

**

* * *

**

Thank you so much for your reviews! And to all my American readers . . . happy Independence Day for tomorrow! There's not much for me to say here, except I hope you enjoy the latest instalment of

_**Fallacy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

When May went downstairs the next morning, Max was busily typing away, while Aurelia seemed to prefer the more traditional methods of researching, and had hand-written notes sprawled out across the floor. May laughed at the hard-working teens.

"Don't you guys ever take a break?" she asked.

"We had dinner and we watched the news. That _was_ our break," Max retorted.

May shook her head. "Have you guys made any progress?"

"Well we're up to date on the variables from the past four weeks, where it seems to be hottest, and now we're comparing them to old records to see if we can draw any connections," Aurelia explained.

Max laughed at May's blank look. "A little," he translated.

May laughed sheepishly and went in to the kitchen to make breakfast. She was shocked to find a bowl, cereal and milk all set out for her. May turned to Aurelia, clearly outraged. "Has he _actually_ made you his maid?"

"No," she replied, her eyes still not straying from her almost-full notebook, "I'm just naturally domesticated. My mother hoped I'd be a breeder."

Max smirked. "That would've been a disaster."

"Excuse me; I could have been a breeder if I wanted to. But I _chose_ to be a researcher."

May shrugged and poured her cornflakes.

* * *

Max had gone to the store to pick up more notepads for Aurelia and ice cream. It seemed that whilst Caroline was gone, their diet had consisted mainly of frozen foods, like microwave pizzas. This left May and Aurelia to talk for a bit.

"Where are you from?" May asked her.

"Well, I'm originally from Sinnoh," Aurelia said. "I lived in Canalave with my mother and father. When I decided I wanted to be a researcher, I joined Professor Rowan, and he sent me here. I've lived in Hoenn for five years now."

May nodded. "How did you meet Max?"

"We met through the professors. I was twelve, he was eleven, and we just hit it off." She paused. "Everyone else is so much older than us; it was just nice having someone my own age to talk to." Aurelia looked curiously at May. "So what about you May? Who do you work with?"

May laughed. "I'm a coordinator. I work with no one but my pokémon."

"Max is always going on about how amazing your pokémon are. What kind of pokémon do you have?"

May tapped her finger thoughtfully before answering. "I have beautiful pokémon."

Aurelia regarded her for a moment. "Isn't that a matter of opinion?"

"Yes it is. I think my pokémon are beautiful, but not everyone thinks a Blaziken is."

Aurelia grinned widely. "I do! My mother has one and he is so gorgeous."

May grinned back at her. "What kind of pokémon do you have?"

"At the moment I have my Lunatone, Lapras and Leafeon."

May gasped and squealed excitedly. "I have a Glaceon!"

"Wow! How many contests have you won?"

May did a quick mental calculation. "I've won about forty."

"And how many Grand Festivals have you won?"

May paused. "Well . . . I haven't won any, but I'm getting stronger."

"I'm back," Max called, stumbling in to the living room with the groceries.

"Go away!" Aurelia hissed. "I'm talking to May and I've got to say she's a lot more interesting than you," Aurelia said.

"I doubt she'd play Monopoly with you."

"Hush!"

* * *

"I have an idea!" Max cried.

"Aurelia's not here," May commented.

Max scanned the room. Sure enough, Aurelia was nowhere to be seen.

He pouted. "Where did she go?"

"She said she was going to take her Pokémon out for a bit. It just proves how _oblivious_ you are, though. She left after lunch! Why do you need her?"

"I need to rub my discovery in her face!"

"That's weird."

"It's what you and Drew do," he pointed out.

". . . You're a jerk."

Just then, Aurelia walked through the door. Max pulled her in to the living room and pushed her on to the sofa next to May.

"I missed you too sweetie, but we need to learn to be apart," she joked.

Max looked serious. "Aurelia, I think I've cracked it!"

"You have? How did you work it out?"

Max grinned uncontrollably. "I was thinking about all the adventures I had with May, and all the things we saw. I started to wonder how Ash and Brock were."

Aurelia nodded and laughed. "I think he's cute," she said.

". . . We're not going down that road again. Anyway, that reminded me of breeding, because Brock was such a talented breeder."

"You know, Brock was pretty awesome," May mused.

"He sounds it," Aurelia agreed.

"Guys, I have a _point _to this!"

Both girls blushed under his stern gaze. "Sorry," they mumbled.

Max nodded and continued. "I started thinking 'what if this is a _pokémon_ causing the heat?'. Like a maybe a Slugma during breeding or something."

Aurelia frowned thoughtfully. "It makes sense, but why has it only happened this year? And if this is a pokémon, why is it only in this region?"

Max winked. "I'm ahead of you, there. Professor Rowan said himself that we don't know every pokémon in the world. It's possible that this is a new pokémon, or perhaps a pokémon that has come back from extinction."

"Like the Dratini did a few years back," Aurelia put in, excitement obvious in her smile.

"Yes!" Max cried, nodding vigorously "So if we found out what kind of pokémon this was, then we could solve the heat wave! Or at the very least we can assure people that everything is fine."

May frowned, not fully understanding how he had made that illogical leap. "Isn't that jumping to conclusions?" she asked.

"We like to call it a quantum leap," Max explained.

"Max, you're a genius!" Aurelia exclaimed. "This changes everything! We're going to need more research material! We should go to either the Canalave or the La Rousse library and see what we can find out about pokémon that have dwindled in numbers. May, will you come with us?"

May stood up and grinned. She still didn't understand what they were saying, but an adventure would be fun.

"I'm in! Let's go to La Rousse City!"

* * *

The next day, the trio was at the train station waiting for the train. Last night, they had packed small bags and they lay on the platform beside them. Aurelia sat on hers and pouted, "I hate trains."

"Why?" May asked, looking to her right for the train.

"She's always been travel sick. And May, the train comes the other way," said Max.

Aurelia nodded and clutched her stomach. She closed her eyes and sighed. She could feel the vibrations and the quiet noise of the tracks. Soon they became stronger and the approaching train became louder, until eventually-

"It's here," Max said quietly.

"I know," Aurelia sighed. "Why did we have to go to La Rousse City? At least we can ferry to Canalave. Why did you want to go to La Rousse May?"

May's face turned bright red. "Well, I . . . you see-"

"The reason is about 6'1" with green hair, and it has a bizarre rose fetish," Max teased.

". . . Again, you're a jerk," May snapped.

* * *

The train that rode from Petalburg to La Rousse was six hours long, sometimes six and a half. The views from the window were incredible. As they rode, they passed fields that remained stubbornly green, defying the heat. They saw pokémon hiding in then shade of the trees and rocks; they passed Mt. Chimney around mid-day and the temperature within the train car soared; they passed the forests of Fortree and saw the famous tree houses. When they arrived in Lilycove, Aurelia finally spoke.

"I love the ocean, too, May. But I think what you're doing classifies as stalking. Every time you see it, you just stare. It's a bit unnerving."

May sighed. "I don't know why I'm doing it. It's just that every time I see the water, I feel like something is watching me."

"Maybe it's the Staryu. It's their birthing season," Max pointed out.

"No . . . I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's a pokémon."

Max shook his head. "It's too far out for anyone to be swimming. You're just being paranoid."

"Yeah… it's possible."

"I'm going to throw up," Aurelia said suddenly.

May squealed and moved away. Vomit always disturbed her, no matter whose it was. Something about ejecting the contents of one's stomach repulsed her for some strange reason. Max shook his head and pulled Aurelia's hair back before she disappeared in to a brown paper bag. May looked at him and he laughed.

"It isn't the first time she's done this. I doubt it'll be the last. She lasted longer than I thought she would though," he said.

May began to reply, but once the grand buildings of La Rousse City appeared over the horizon, both girls were struck with the same nervous twinge. Aurelia was nervous simply because she wasn't sure she could last the final half hour without throwing up on Max once again.

"I'm sorry, Max," Aurelia whimpered.

"Its fine," he assured her.

"I didn't mean to."

"I know. It'll clean, don't worry."

"Sorry. . ."

May was nervous because of the slight chance she may run in to Drew. What would she say? What was there to say? Would he even care? She was eighteen now . . . much too old to be playing the denial game. She knew she liked Drew; she just wasn't sure if he liked her.

"Whose idea was this?" Aurelia whined.

"Sorry!" May called over.

* * *

After the train had pulled into the station, and Aurelia had had time to recover, they decided to check into a pokémon centre for a place to store their bags. It turned out to be a much more complicated task than May had expected.

"Are you serious?" she groaned.

Nurse Joy nodded her head. "I'm sorry kids, but with the heat wave we've had a surge of tourists. We simply don't have any vacancies."

"Where else can we stay?" Max asked.

"Well . . . there are plenty of hotels within the city. There are also family-run rest houses along the coast."

May sighed. "Thanks."

* * *

As it turned out, the rest houses along the coast were also full. As for the hotels . . . well, the trio simply didn't have enough money for one _night_ let alone a week or so.

"La Rousse is ridiculously overpriced," Aurelia sighed.

Max nodded. "At least if we had gone to Canalave, we would have had somewhere to stay."

"I'm sorry, I didn't think this through!" May admitted.

"I think that's obvious at this point!" Max growled.

"I thought your friend lived here," Aurelia said dully.

May plucked gingerly at her blue blouse. "He's not my friend . . . I'm not sure what he is. I . . . think we're friends," she confessed.

"We'll take that as a 'no' then."

May frowned and pulled out her pokénav. "I'll call him."

She flicked thorough her phone and hesitated slightly. She shook her head and scowled.

'_This is your fault May. Just do it.'_

The pokénav began to ring. It rang for about thirty seconds before a startled voice answered.

"May?"

May blushed; she loved listening to his voice. "Hello Drew."

"This is . . . rare. What do you want?"

"Well . . . I'm in La Rousse at the moment and I was hoping . . . that we could stay at your house for a little while."

There was a slight pause.

"And who is '_we_'?"

"Oh, Max and his friend are here too."

There was another pause.

"How long is a little while?"

May shrugged, a gesture lost on the pokénav. Drew sighed.

"Use your words May."

May growled down the pokénav. "Shut up Drew! The fact that I said _nothing _means I don't know!"

Drew chuckled. "I could be persuaded to let you stay. It depends."

May chewed her lip. Max and Aurelia just looked at her, both anxious to find out what was happening.

"What does it depend on?" she asked.

"Are you going to beg?"

"What? No way! I am _not_ begging!"

"Then you're not staying."

May sighed and turned away from the other two.

"_Please _Drew."

"Hmmm . . . I _might_ let you."

"Drew!"

He chuckled. "OK, you can stay. But turn around May. It's a lot more fun when you beg to my face."

May gasped and spun around. Her eyes narrowed. "You . . . _jerk_."

Drew smirked. "It's nice to see you too."

* * *

Drew's house was like an old English manor that had had a futuristic makeover. It lay on a cliff beside the ocean, away from the bustling city of technology.

May gasped. "You _live_ here?"

"Yes."

"But it's . . . wow." She turned to him. "Where should we put our bags?"

He shrugged. "You can put them wherever you want to in the Eastern corridor. But you can't go in the Western corridor; they're my parents' rooms."

"Where are they?" Max asked.

"They're in Sinnoh at the moment. Mom is the guest for the contest judging and Dad just wanted some more pokémon."

The trio ran upstairs and dropped their bags off in a random room and then ran back down. Drew was leaning against the front door.

"So why are you here?" he asked.

Aurelia answered. "We're researching the breeding patterns of a particular pokémon who has dwindled in numbers in the past fifty years or so, to determine whether there is a correlation between it and the recent weather anomaly."

". . . What?"

"Do you see what I've had to put up with?" May cried. "They make you feel so stupid because they're geniuses and they have all these inside jokes that no one else has a chance of understanding!

There was an awkward pause. "Sorry May," Max said finally.

"It's OK."

". . . Hello, by the way. My name is Aurelia," she said to Drew.

"I'm pleased to meet you."

She smiled. "So you have a rose fetish? That's bizarre."

". . . Why did I agree to this?" Drew groaned.

* * *

Drew had escorted them back in to town, and into the LaRousse Library. It was a grand building, almost as big as Drew's home. It contrasted greatly with its surroundings; whilst the rest of the area had an ultramodern feel about it, the La Rousse Library was old-fashioned and embellished with classical décor.

Max went to the information desk. "Excuse me? I was wondering if you have any records of the census of pokémon in the past fifty years."

The elderly woman blinked. "Aren't you a little young to be asking for such complex things?"

Drew walked over to the desk and gave the lady his most charming smile. "These are Professor Rowan's assistants Edna."

Edna nodded with understanding. "Of course I can give you a copy then! They're around the back. Drew, would you be a dear and look after things while I get them?"

"OK, Edna."

Edna disappeared in to the room behind the desk. May giggled.

"You're so nice to her . . . why am I always stuck with arrogant Drew?"

Drew smirked. "Try being a grandmother to me and then we'll talk."

". . . It's not worth it."

Edna reappeared carrying a large box of papers. Max took them from her; she smiled at him. "Thank you. I hope you get what you need from this young man. And please, give William my best. I haven't seen him in years."

"And William is . . .?" May asked Aurelia quietly.

Aurelia smiled. "That would be Professor Rowan." She turned to Edna. "He's in the Mirage Tower at the moment. He's conducting research in there."

Edna laughed. "That's Billy for you."

* * *

As Aurelia and Max toiled laboriously, May and Drew watched in amazement. They scribbled and typed their notes so rapidly, they seemed almost robotic.

"They're good," Drew said finally.

"They're amazing." She smiled at him. "You're amazing. Thanks for letting us stay."

Drew stretched up and sat further back on the sofa. "It's no big deal. I could hardly say no. I'm not that harsh."

"Do you guys mind? We're trying to work here," Max snapped.

Suddenly, the table began to vibrate. Max watched as his pokénav danced across the dining table.

Aurelia sighed. "The funny thing about pokénavs is they don't stop doing that until you answer them."

Max rolled his eyes and picked it up. "Hey there, Jordan. What's up? . . . What? No! Are you sure? B-but . . . OK, I'll let her know." He dropped the pokénav on to the table and looked up at May. Tears formed in brown eyes and splattered onto his clenched fists. He looked up at May.

Aurelia reached over and put a hand on his arm. "Max? What's wrong?"

"M-May. . . The Mirage Tower has disappeared again. Dad and the Professor . . . they're still in there. Jordan has lost all communication links with them. May . . . Dad is gone."

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**That's it folks. I will try to have the next chapter up by next Saturday, but I'm on holiday so it may not be possible.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry, i was hoping I would have updated earlier thasn this. Let's just say I'm lazy and leave it at that. And now, with out further ado, _Fallacy_!**

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**Chapter 3**

So many thoughts flooded May's mind. So many emotions threatened to dominate her. She wanted to cry. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to run and hide until it was over.

"Oh."

Aurelia tried to hold Max, but he stepped away. He ran up the stairs and they heard the door slam shut. Drew regarded the girls for a moment.

"He's fine," May said.

He couldn't be sure who she was talking about, but Drew still nodded. Aurelia began to pack the notes away. May frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm packing up. Max is going to want to be alone for a bit. There's no point in trying to finish this."

Footsteps ran across the floor above them. Max came charging down the stairs, his yellow bag flung over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" May cried.

Max paused at the door. His entire was body was shaking. "I'm going to the desert. I'm getting Dad back."

"Max, you're crazy!

He spun around. "May, no one has ever came out of the tower! There was a legend and facts to back it up and they still went in! We may never see Dad again."

"If you go, I may never see you again!" May cried.

Aurelia walked over to him and grabbed his arm. "Think, Max: The tower has gone. So even if you rush over there now, you won't be able to do anything!"

"I can try!"

"No Max, you can't. The tower changes location. There's always a time lapse between sightings . . . Think like a scientist!"

A few moments passed. Neither of the two said anything. There was nothing to say. Now was the time for thinking. Finally, Max nodded.

"You're right. Of course you are . . . you're always right."

Drew stood up. "It's late. We should go to bed."

Max nodded and climbed the stairs once more, followed by Aurelia, who still had the pokémon census. Drew turned to May. Before he had even opened his mouth, she had stood up and smiled.

"I'm fine . . . but can I use your phone?"

Drew nodded and followed the others up the stairs, while May sighed and picked up the phone. It rang for a while.

"Hello?"

May gulped and took a shaky breath. "Mom, it's May. I . . . Something has happened."

* * *

Dawn eventually broke and the tones of purple and red gave way to azure skies. May had lay in the queen-sized bed and watched the transition. She knew she had slept some, but was not sure how much. Her mother was hysterical when she told her what had happened. She'd asked questions -- questions May could not answer. What would happen now? Was there any way to make connect with them? She sighed and turned over in her bed. It was a feminine room, probably reserved for the lady of the manor in some distant past.

She sat up. She couldn't lie there anymore. The more she lay, the more she thought, and the more her thoughts threatened to consume her. She dressed herself in her blue blouse and jeans, and plastered on her trade-mark smile. She bounded out the room and down the stairs, to find the others the boys sitting in the grand living room.

"Morning, boys," she said.

Max looked at her, but didn't seem to see her. He merely nodded and returned to ripping the blank paper.

Drew smiled at her. "Morning, May."

"Well, you're cheerful."

Drew shrugged. "I'm a morning person."

Then, Aurelia appeared in her usual blue hoodie and jeans. She looked as though she hadn't slept at all. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Drew, do you have any coffee?" she asked.

Max looked up, this time focusing slightly on her. "You don't like coffee."

She yawned. "I know. But I was up all night reading the census. I didn't make any notes, but" --she yawned widely and continued-- "I'll make notes later. Now we can give Edna back the documents."

Max went back to shredding. "Your photographic memory is freaky."

"Shut it. So, where's the coffee?"

As soon as Aurelia had drunk her coffee, the group headed out to the library. Max walked ahead of them with Aurelia only inches behind him. This gave May and Drew time to talk. Drew wasn't sure what to say.

May sighed and gave him a sad smile. "Be an arrogant jerk to me again."

"I love you, too."

May laughed. "I'm serious. I don't want you treating me any differently just because my dad . . . because he isn't here right now."

Drew nodded. "OK. And as an arrogant jerk, I'd just like to say that I think your hair is expanding."

May gasped and put her hands over her hair. She glared at him; he smirked, marking an agreement. They eventually caught up with the younger teens and they entered the library. Today they were the only ones there. Edna looked up and smiled.

"Good morning, children. Have you finished with the census?" she asked.

Drew nodded. "Edna, the tower disappeared last night."

Edna's face dropped. "Oh. I . . . I see. Poor Billy . . . is he--?"

"He's still in there," Aurelia said.

"Ah . . . what can I do for you?"

Now Max spoke. "We're going to need an enlarged copy of a map of the desert, and any records of documented sightings of the tower. Where would we find them?"

Edna nodded solemnly. "You should check the legends section"--she pointed to her left--"on the third floor, that way. And it may be a good idea to check the history section"--she indicated her right--"on the second floor. I'm afraid I can only let you take out ten books each. It's Library policy."

Drew nodded. "That's fine; thanks."

"I'll see what I can pull up for you. It's going to be dead in here anyway today."

"Thank you," Max said.

Edna disappeared in to the back room once again. Aurelia turned to the others. "Max and I should probably take the history section. No offence, but we have more of a clue of what to look for."

"I'm not arguing against that," May said.

The pairs split and headed for their designated sections.

In the legends section, May gazed up the mountainous bookcases. She frowned. "How are we meant to reach the top books?"

"Well May, many people have this problem too. So they invented an amazing contraption! And do you know what they called it? A ladder," Drew said, smirking at her.

She scowled. "I know that! But there isn't one, so we can't."

Drew shook his head and pointed to something behind her. May turned and saw a ladder on wheels. She blushed. "Oh . . . bite me!"

Drew smirked and pulled the ladder to the book case. It hit the top with a soft thud. He turned to her. "Can I trust you to hold this steady?"

"I don't know . . . you look heavy."

"It's all muscle."

May winked. "And burgers."

"Actually, it's fries."

Drew began to climb the ladders. May gripped the ladder tightly, terrified that it would slip. "Hey, what am I looking for?" he called down.

"You're looking for books about the Mirage Tower or anything that might mention it. You see, this is why we weren't trusted in the big boy section."

Drew laughed. He grabbed a few books and slid down the ladder. He gave the books to May and turned to climb back up the ladder. Then he sighed. "May . . . do you ever pay attention to what's in front of you?"

"Huh?"

Drew indicated the spot in front of where May had been standing. There were at least twelve different books about the Mirage Tower, plus one encyclopaedia of Hoenn myths and legends. May blushed and smiled sheepishly at him. "Well . . . at least we got the ones from the top too!"

Elsewhere in the history section, the researchers seemed to be faring better. After all, this was their domain.

"This looks interesting," Aurelia remarked. "It's the history of the desert. It's bound to mention something about the disappearances or the tower."

Max nodded and picked up another book.

Aurelia sighed. "Max, I'm not sure what I should be saying. AM I supposed to be distracting you or comforting you? What should I tell you?"

"Just keep looking."

Aurelia grabbed the ladder and leant it against the book case. "Could you go up? I hate these ladder things. Remember that book case at Professor Rowan's lab?"

Max laughed a little. "How could I forget that book case? You dropped its entire top shelf on my foot."

He climbed the ladder to the very top. He wasn't as tall as Drew, so he had to keep climbing until he was nearly on the very top step. He grabbed five books, and was about to climb back down when he spotted something on top of the book case. He tried to reach up, but he wasn't quite tall enough.

"Aurelia, are you taller than me?" he asked.

Aurelia laughed. "Not since I was fifteen. Why?"

"I can't reach this book on top."

He climbed another step. Now he was balanced on the very top. Aurelia gasped. "Max! It's too dangerous. Just come down."

He grabbed the book with his free hand. "It may have something that will help."

"Be careful!"

Max laughed. "I'm the careful one."

He placed the book on top of the pile and began the slow descent to Aurelia. She released the breath she wasn't aware she was holding. "That's it for here. Let's go find the other two."

"That is, if they're not making out in some secluded corner."

Aurelia smiled. "Drew reminds me of Austen's Mr. Darcy."

"You mean a stuck-up, arrogant pretty-boy? I agree."

"First impressions are erroneous."

Max sighed. "We haven't got time for comparing notes on my sister's love life. We need to get going."

Aurelia sighed and followed him. He almost had his spark back. Aurelia had never lost someone like Max had; she had no idea no idea how to console him or distract him. She resolved to simply following orders.

Together, they walked down the marble staircase and stood once again in the main foyer. Soon, May and Drew joined them.

"Did you find much?" Aurelia asked.

May laughed and gestured towards the twenty books that Drew was carrying. "We found quite a lot, actually."

Edna reappeared, carrying four enlarged copies of the desert. "Here you go. I hope you find them."

"We do too."

Back at Drew's, the research had already begun. Max was pouring over the encyclopaedia whilst Aurelia was conducting various calculations. Drew had decided to cook, a talent that had surprised May to no end. May merely observed her brother as he skimmed through the index.

She had always known her brother was smarter than her. It was obvious to anyone who met them. But that had never really mattered before -- his intelligence had never been a vital part in anything they did.

"May could you pass over those drawing pins please?" Aurelia asked.

Aurelia seemed to understand him in a way May couldn't. Aurelia understood his needs and catered to them the best she could. Aurelia was perhaps a better sister to Max than May ever was. Maybe she was even something more.

May passed her the red pins. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm calculating an approximate place and time the Mirage Tower will appear next time. I'm seeing a correlation with the places. I just need to see if this works."She placed a final pin "Yes! I know where the Mirage Tower will appear!"

Drew wandered back in to the living room. Max looked up. "How do you know?" he asked.

Aurelia smiled. "We're honestly just lucky that we're at the end of a cycle and that I am good at geometry."

"OK, but how?" Max asked.

"Look at this." Aurelia pointed one of the map copies. "The location of the Mirage Tower's next appearance is determined by the fact that the cycle follows the pattern of an equilateral triangle. Take the first four documented sighting for example. The tower appeared here, then nine hundred feet away, then nine hundred feet away from that and then back to where it started. Then it started the cycle again somewhere else."

May looked down at the map. What Aurelia had just said made no sense to her, but the pattern was clear on the map. There were definite sets of triangles on the map.

Drew nodded. "OK, so where is the tower appearing next?"

"Well, like I said we're coming to the end of the cycle. So this time the Mirage Tower will appear . . . here."

She placed a yellow pin on top of a red one. Max looked at her in awe. "You're amazing."

Aurelia giggled. "And it only took you six years to work it out."

"When will it appear?" May asked.

"Well . . . this is an estimate, but I'd say we have six weeks. I need to conduct the proper calculations, but I think there is a correlation between the rise in regional temperature and the increased sightings of the Mirage Tower. I have no evidence at the moment, but the hypothesis seems probable."

Max smiled at her. "You've been promoted. You're a miracle worker."

"Thanks. Does that come with a pay rise?"

Drew interjected. "So what do we do until then?"

"What do you mean 'we'?" May asked.

"I mean us. What, did you think I'd just send you guys away?" he asked.

"Well . . . yeah," May admitted.

Drew shook his head. "You don't get rid of me that easily."

"We should get prepared. Research all we can on the tower and train our pokémon against whatever we're going to face," Max said.

He ran up the stairs to fetch a charger for the laptop. Drew returned to the kitchen. May turned around to face Aurelia.

"Aurelia . . . can I ask you something?"

Aurelia nodded. "Of course you can."

"What are the chances . . . that he'll be in the tower when it reappears?"

Aurelia removed her glasses. "I . . . I don't know. Statistically speaking . . . it doesn't look good."

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Constructive criticism is welcome, as always.**


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